Secrets, Secrets, Are No Fun
by Light of Dusk
Summary: Ron is worried about Hermione. It all starts out with a rude comment, but it escalades into a much bigger problem, and Ron's not sure if he wants to, or can deal with it. RonHermione. Begins out tamely, but very adult topics will be dicussed later...


Secrets, Secrets, Are No Fun

DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of Harry Potter, nor will I inherit them in the case of J.K. Rowling passing from this life, as she has informed me numerous times.

Author's Notes (A/N): Okay, so I know that this story starts out abruptly, but I promise, things do get cleared up… though not all at once, and not all in this chapter… I want to keep you on the edge of your seats, though that has proven to be extremely dangerous, especially with a wobbly chair. It you haven't noticed already, the tones I like to use are pretty laid back as I get enough of the "Pole up Your Ass" writing style in my literature classes (though some of my stories aren't as sarcastic as this one, so don't judge me on this story alone). I love writing, and I hope you enjoy reading this. The tone of the following is sarcastic, and the story will become more dramatic towards the end of this chapter (DON'T PEEK!)

P.S.: I am also very mysterious when it comes to writing things, so don't get mad at me. I have forewarned you, but please read. I promise the "cliffhanger-ness" is worth it.

* * *

Ron was sitting at the Gryffindor House table when he heard the gossip queen say her worst.

"Hermione, you're looking a little, well… fat." Lavender Brown finished, taking a very unladylike bite out of her bacon.

Meanwhile, Ron nearly choked on his. He couldn't believe that he had once found that girl cute. Oh wait, no, he'd only gone out with her to get Hermione jealous at him… But what the hell was that girl's problem anyways, telling someone else something that they really don't want to hear that bluntly. At the dinner table, nonetheless. Yet, that had always been Lavender's style; but who was she to judge anyway. From the looks of it, Ron thought to himself, she seemed to be well on her way to gaining a few pounds, with the way that she was putting away her third helping of Yorkshire pudding. Either way, Lavender's comment was uncalled for.

He was about to tell off Lavender for being such a bitch to his girlfriend, when he realized that she wasn't sitting at the table anymore. Now that he looked around, neither was Hermione. He glanced at the door to the Great Hall just in time to see a mess of bushy hair fly out of site.

She must have run out after the comment had been made, thought Ron. Yeah, it was the sort of thing a girl would get upset about. Being her boyfriend, he thought it best to leave the rest of his dinner (proudly thinking that he had had one less helping than Lavender), and to go and console his girl.

* * *

Ron ran up to the common room ready to show off how much of a Prince Charming he could be, but when he reached the painting of the Fat Lady, his jaw dropped. There she was, talking to HER! Hermione and Lavender. Together. Talking in hushed, anxious voices… but not pulling each other's hair out and screaming? Talking as if they were friends with a secret to share?

Ron didn't like what he was seeing. Perhaps that's why he thought it better to hide in a classroom rather than confront his girlfriend and ex. Yes, eavesdropping was the answer. It was just too bad that he had red hair.

"Oh, Ron! I didn't realize you were standing there!" Hermione's voice was shaky. "How much did you hear?"

Nothing, thanks to the genes that my parents gave me, he thought to himself. "Nothing…why?" he added this last comment slyly, hoping to get a glimpse of what kind of secret it was by the way she smiled.

But no smile came. Instead Hermione replied with a straight face, "Nothing important, really. Just girl stuff, you know." And with that she stepped through the portrait with Lavender, and into the common room.

Somehow Ron thought something was up. Firstly, why would Hermione and Lavender be talking to each other at all? They hated each other to begin with (mostly because of him, of course), and Lavender had made that extremely rude comment at the dinner table too. Secondly, if it was just trivial "girl stuff" as Hermione had put it, why had she asked so anxiously if Ron had heard any of it. Usually she was bombarding him day and night with silly girl stuff…

* * *

Ron spent the whole night awake, thinking what had happened earlier. Why was this bothering him so much? Why was she keeping secrets from him? The only other time that he'd known her to keep secrets… was when she was dating Krum, come to think of it. But the idea of Hermione Granger cheating on him was absurd, wasn't it? No, he hadn't seen her talking to other boys in secret… there had to be something else, but what?

* * *

The next morning Ron went to meet Hermione in the common room, as he'd been doing for 7 years now, so they could walk to breakfast together (Harry had scampered off with Ginny about two hours ago, and frankly, Ron didn't want to think about his best friend and his little sister. At least, not in the same thought.). As he reached the bottom of the boys' staircase, he realized that Hermione was already there waiting for him. She was looking at a painting of a dragon sleeping, and seemed so intrigued by the way the scales on the dragon rose and fell with its snores that she had yet to notice Ron. Now looking at Hermione from the side without her school robes, but with muggle clothing instead, she did seem a bit, round. Was it her, or a trick from the early morning light coming through the stained glass?

"Hey Hermione."

She practically leapt out of her skin. "Sorry, Ron, you startled me." Ron noticed that she was clutching her stomach, but apparently she had noticed his staring, because she withdrew the hand quickly. "I think I pulled a muscle Ron." She added sarcastically, smiling at him, though lamely.

Ron wasn't convinced by the comment, either way. He gave her a quick peck on the cheek, took hold of her hand, and they began to walk to breakfast. It was better to act as if he wasn't suspicious; after all, if she suspected that he suspected something, things could only distance him from her, and he definitely didn't want that.

* * *

Ron left everything alone for a couple of weeks, but kept noticing that Hermione's behavior kept getting stranger and stranger. She kept eating more at meals, kept studying less, and when she was talking to Lavender she kept glancing over at Ron, giving him an awkward smile before retreating to places that were well out of Ron's hearing range.

He was walking back to the dormitories from studying in the library one night (madam Pince had kicked him out after he saw that he had brought a bottle of ink to the library, which was completely absurd), when he heard two familiar voices before had had a chance to turn at the next corner. Ginny and Hermione were barely audible, but it was definitely them.

Damn, he thought. Now I'm stuck here to look completely mad, and I can't even hear what the bloody hell they're saying.

Then he remembered that he had his knapsack. His knapsack just so happened to be hiding a pair of extendable ears. God bless Fred and George. He could just kiss them right now. No, wait, that's disgusting… Still, he had the extendable ears and that's all that mattered.

He put one end to his ear and let the other one trail over to where the two girls were standing. At least now he wouldn't have to be left in the dark. Some light would finally be shed on why Hermione had been behaving so irrationally.

"Hermione, I know something's up. Just tell me already."

"Oh, Ginny, I would, really, but I have a lot of homework to---"

"You're not going anywhere until I hear what's been going on with you!"

Oh, brilliant Ginny, thought Ron. Now she's going to storm off and not tell you anything. That's what Hermione is known for you dolt. You fell right into her trap. But Ron had barely finished his thought when Hermione's words echoed through the corridor.

"Fine, Ginny. If you really want to know so badly, I'll tell you. But you have to promise not to tell anyone, especially your brother, because if he finds out… I don't even want to think about it…"

Hermione's voice trailed away… damn, she must be whispering so softly that not even the extendable ears could pick up on it. Thank goodness my sister's such a loud mouth, Ron thought.

"HERMIONE! YOU'RE GETTING AN ABORTION! But…"

But Ginny never had the chance to finish. The decibel and the content of the statement had stupefied Ron and he had retaliated by knocking over the suit of armor that stood next to him. So she had to have cheated on him, a dazed Ron decided. THEY hadn't gotten that far into their relationship yet, nor had they wanted to. No, that wasn't entirely true. It seemed that in a reversing of gender roles, Hermione had decided their relationship had been going too slowly. And now she was standing in front of him, looking extremely furious through the thick river of tears that were running down her face, and Ginny just standing there with her arms crossed. It couldn't get any worse… how wrong he was.

* * *

A/N: I hope that you enjoyed chapter one, and I look forward to your feedback, I will even accept flames (though if I find out that your writing is terrible I will not be lenient on my reviews). Next chapter should be out soon, though midterms are coming up, so please forgive me if it's tardier than you'd like. Sorry about the ending being all abrupt, but I like to torture my readers. (Author's Side Note: Light of Dusk does not REALLY enjoy torturing her readers, it is a figure of speech and you must forgive her for some of her comments towards her readers. She loves them dearly and wishes that they live long, rich, un-tortured lives).

P.P.S. I am madly in love with Rupert Grint, and Ronald Weasley for that matter. If anyone could e-mail me their REAL phone numbers (I am aware Ronald Weasley doesn't have a phone. In his case, send me some Floo powder or an apparition manual, again REAL) I would forever be in your debt, and I would make sure that you would sit at an extremely classy table at our wedding.


End file.
